VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis is celebrating a special Mass for migrants in St. Peter’s Basilica, calling attention to their plight and inviting them to the Vatican as Europe, the U.S. and other countries increasingly close their doors to them.
Several migrants and representatives of aid groups that care for them were among the guests at the intimate Mass marking the fifth anniversary of Francis’ landmark visit to Lampedusa, the Sicilian island that for years was the primary destination of migrants smuggled from Libya.
During that trip the new pope denounced what he called the “globalization of indifference” shown by the world to migrants escaping war, poverty and climate-induced natural disasters.
